1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of transportation services. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved system and method for providing transportation services over a data communications network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The automobile is one of the most successful inventions of all time but automobiles and the industry surrounding them are also responsible for more pollution and toxic waste than any other product of the industrial era. Unfortunately, the typical use of automobilesxe2x80x94in particular personal automobilesxe2x80x94is extremely inefficient. On a typical day, one can see large numbers of personal automobiles parked and not in use. This represents a large base of underutilized capital goods. At the same time, the use of alternative modes of transportation that are more efficientxe2x80x94public transportation, taxis, private carsxe2x80x94is either inconvenient or too expensive.
Private automobiles are both ubiquitous (at least in industrialized countries) and inefficiently utilized, in part because the modern consumer wants the xe2x80x9con demandxe2x80x9d transportation services a waiting car represents. In a typical rush hour commute virtually every car is driven by a sole driver. A more convenient and efficient utilization of automobiles and other forms of on-demand transportation could replace a large number of automobiles and therefore be a boon to consumers, the environment, and congestion on our highways. If applied to other on-demand resource situations, it could also be used to enhance the efficiency of industry and commerce.
A computer-implemented method is described for determining an efficient transportation route comprising: compiling travel data over one or more travel segments, the travel data transmitted from one or more transportation vehicles traveling over the travel segments; receiving positional data associated with a transportation request, the positional data including an origin and a destination; and providing a driver of a vehicle with a first efficient route from the origin to the destination using the travel data, the first efficient route including one or more of the travel segments.
Also described is a computer-implemented method for providing transportation services comprising: receiving a transportation request from a passenger; tracking the passenger""s position following the request using positional detection logic; and transmitting positional data identifying the passenger""s position to a pickup vehicle.